I'll Come Back
by zenniel
Summary: A three-chaptered story centering on Andrea and Daryl. "'Don't worry, Andrea. I'll come back.' He said and left into the predawn morning. She looked at where he had stood. The walkers had finally breached the safe zone's defenses. No one was safe anymore." T for blood, gore, and cussing.
1. No Need to Say Goodbye

**Sorry for my lack of fanfictions lately! I've been working on this one for a while and I still don't know exactly how it'll end! This fic will be a three-shot fic, so stay tuned for two more installments!**

**- Lyrics from Regina Spektor**

_It started out as a feeling  
Which then grew into a hope  
Which then turned into a quiet thought  
Which then turned into a quiet word  
And then that word grew louder and louder  
'Til it was a battle cry  
I'll come back when you call me  
No need to say goodbye_

The Alexandria Safe Zone was, for the most part, as safe as the name promised. The zone was compromised of a couple blocks worth of houses, a church complete with a small cemetery, what remained of a general store, a failing playground, and a wall created mostly from concrete, wood, aluminum, and pure dumb luck. It wasn't much, but the company was nice and the beds were definitely better than they had been in the prison. Andrea loved the zone because of its simple design—to keep the walkers out and to keep the living alive. For the first time in a long time, Andrea felt relatively safe.

Despite the feeling, though, Andrea knew that the safe zone was always in danger of being overrun. Defense of the zone was top priority and everyone had their own part to play in the protection of the home they lived in. They tried to keep the walkers from overcoming them by keeping the walls manned and sending only the quickest and stealthiest out into the world to look for supplies. The only problem was the supplies didn't come in quick enough and the walls were often too decrepit or too far out of the way to fully repair every one of them. It was Andrea who suggested a lookout be stationed at the abandoned tower about half a mile outside of the zone. As the best sniper, she also suggested that she be the lookout. Rick, having naturally taken control of the zone, saw the knowledge in her thought.

Since the group had abandoned the prison, they'd found new people. The first, Tyreese, had joined the group shortly before the Governor attacked the prison. He had also died in the Governor's onslaught. Of the prisoners, none had survived. But three others, Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene, found them on the road. Eugene claimed he was a CDC scientist and Rick, believing him, took his group eastward on the false pretense. Lastly, a kindly preacher by the name of Gabriel joined the survivors after a run in at his church. But the group was, sadly, also affected by death. Lori and her newborn daughter, Judith, had been shot when the Governor stormed the prison. The prison inmates, the men who found it in themselves to accept newcomers into the place where they lived, had all perished. Beth had died soon after they left, having bled out from a stomach wound. T-Dog had been bitten en route to Gabriel's church and had been left behind much like Jim had been left behind, propped up against a tree with a pistol with one bullet left in his hand.

Everyone healed in their own way. Andrea forced herself to think that it got better responding to death after Amy died but in the deepest recesses of her mind, she knew that each death affected her just like the ones before or the ones after. Lori and Judith's death caused Andrea a lot of pain and, though she didn't like to admit it, she tried to push away from the group—a woman and her child dying was hard but Andrea thought it was her fault that Lori died—but it was Carol and, surprisingly, Daryl, who brought her back. Carol was strong when it came to death and tried to internalize the sadness; Daryl had pushed away after losing Sophia and almost losing Andrea herself in the woods, but Andrea had painstakingly taken time to bring him back. Now he found ways to bring her back.

Everyone healed in their own way and assimilating with the safe zone survivors helped the healing process tremendously. Carl had friends his own age despite the fact that he rarely played with them; he pretended he was grown up and would not stoop to their games. Maggie and Glenn, the happy couple, were surrounded by other people who were happy. Rick had more people to lead even though Andrea could see that he was not happy about doing so sometimes. Carol had other women to talk to, as Andrea knew she wasn't the best to talk to when it came to 'woman' things. Even Michonne assimilated, though not easily.

Then again, some people healed quite similarly without the help of the safe zone survivors. Abraham and Rosita were both strong-willed and grew closer together than just 'friends.' And Andrea and Daryl found themselves, the tracker and the sniper, slowly drawing closer. The first time they had gotten together was shortly before Lori's death; the first time was not a tentative attempt. It was angry and immensely sexual as the two eagerly let out their pent up frustration on each other. The second time and the few after were much less angry and much more exploratory. But Daryl didn't have the capacity, it seemed, to be tentative and loving and Andrea actually liked that he wasn't afraid to continue.

But it wasn't just Andrea who drew closer to Daryl. Carol also found herself close and, like it or not, Andrea became a little jealous of the nearness of the two. In the end, though, Daryl didn't say whether or not he'd 'been with' Carol. And Andrea had never questioned Daryl because he wasn't the type of man to be questioned. Besides, Andrea didn't want to pry and disintegrate the delicate bond they'd developed.

And then, somewhere along the way, it had grown to be something much more than just sex. In the hours of silence and mourning on their way to the safe zone they drew together. Soon she began talking to him about nothing at first but later about things she found interesting; it was a real step forward when he answered back without snark. They began to eat together, sit together, work together. And at the safe zone, Rick's group had to live together in three different houses. Daryl actually chose to live in the house Andrea had chosen. However, Carol also chose to live in that house. Maggie and Glenn chose the master bedroom; Andrea found the guest bedroom to her liking, and Carol chose a room that faintly resembled a boy's room. Daryl could have taken a pink room for himself but chose to sleep on the couch in the downstairs.

It was in this house that Andrea found out she was pregnant. She didn't know how long she'd been pregnant: the closest was three months but the first time she had had sex that made any sense to be pregnant now was with Daryl. In fact, the child's father could _only_ be Daryl. Andrea just hadn't noticed because of the seemingly random times she got her period; she hadn't even known anything was different until the baby kicked. Despite being gifted with the genes to allow her to look somewhat normal and baby-bumpless while carrying, Andrea slowly began to feel all of the symptoms of pregnancy. Her back began to ache, her ankles began to hurt, she felt the constant need to pee, and she always felt tired. Luckily, though, she'd never experienced morning sickness.

If Carol knew, she kept quiet about it. Maggie and Glenn were probably too oblivious. Rick probably knew but that's because he knew everything it seemed. But it was Daryl who surprised her when he woke up early in the mornings when she woke up, when he guessed she was pregnant before she even truly knew herself. But she was even more surprised that he didn't act any different to her telling him it was one hundred percent his. In fact, she was grateful that he was no different to her when she was pregnant than when she wasn't. But in a way, he was also so much more than he had been before.

Andrea had at one time argued to Daryl to not wake up when she did early in the mornings. He'd shot back at her that as soon as she stopped making so much noise, he'd stop waking up. Despite trying to move through the house quietly, Daryl always seemed to know when she was up. It was uncanny, especially since her room on the second story was nowhere close to the couch he slept on. And he would do certain small tasks for her, and it was he who told her to tell Rick that she couldn't go out to be a lookout any longer. His advice was sound; besides, she knew this was his way of looking after her.

* * *

Andrea's morning began early just as it had the day before and the day before that. Though she had tried to sleep all throughout the night, Andrea could not truly fall asleep. In the end, she finally decided enough was enough and turned slowly onto her back before pushing herself into a sitting position. In the dim light of predawn, she groaned. Just once she wished she could sleep in past early o'clock. She stretched as much as her aching body would allow and felt a familiar kick in her stomach signaling the baby's good morning. Wearing a slight scowl, she stood up and reached for her bathrobe but must have pulled wrong because she received a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.

After sucking in a breath and waiting for the pinch to leave, Andrea reached again for her bathrobe. There weren't many luxuries in the undead world, but Andrea had found the bathrobe and decided it would be better than nothing to wear this over her nightclothes especially with Carol, Maggie, Daryl, and Glenn always wandering around the house. Besides, this was the first time she could actually feel safe enough to wear nightclothes; everywhere else they lived she felt like she had to keep on her normal clothes for fear of getting up and being ready in the middle of the night.

Despite creeping slowly past Carol's room, which was stationed directly above 'Daryl's Couch,' and trying not to hit any of the creaky steps on the staircase, he was still waiting for her in the kitchen. The room was lit by a lantern that used solar energy to run so she could see him perfectly. She shot him a dirty look as she rounded the corner but wasn't surprised.

"I tell you every morning not to wake up when I get up." Andrea mumbled without much emotion. They went through this every morning.

"Y' can't tell me what to do." Daryl said with faux anger as she moved past him. He was standing at the oven but there was nothing on it, nothing to signify it had been used in months because the gas had run out. Instead he held a box of cereal in one hand and a bowl in the other. He shook the box in her direction and she looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked him as she eased gingerly into a chair.

He raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a look that meant 'wouldn't you like to know' and she resisted being childish and sticking out her tongue. Instead, she gestured to the seat across from her, which he plopped into before shoving the bowl across the table. She took it and the offered box, tore open the packaging as quietly as she could (the others were still sleeping), and poured some cereal. It was a miracle how the cereal hadn't rotted, what with a year having gone by since production of food stopped. She popped a few bits into her mouth and pushed the bowl to him. He grinned at her before snatching up the box, pushing his hand in, and taking a handful out for himself.

"So where'd you get it?" She asked again, pointedly waiting for an answer.

Daryl shrugged, "Found it in the cupboard; Glenn probly picked it up."

They sat in silence for a while, Andrea staring fixedly at anything other than Daryl while blindly eating the cereal. Each bite was a flavor explosion her mouth and she wasn't going to admit this to Daryl, who still found the time to go out and hunt squirrels or other types of vermin whenever he could. The silence was comfortable only because they had sat in silence many times before. But she slowly became aware of him just staring at her. When she turned to look at him, he stared back at her unapologetically.

"What?" She asked with a tint of anger in her voice.

"Ya look like shit." He drawled out, "Why're ya up early? Earlier'n usual?"

Andrea sighed and flopped her torso on the table, propping her head on her hand, using her elbow to support her head's weight. She felt the baby kick—it was always kicking nowadays and with much more force than normal—and grumbled nonsensical sounds out. Finally, she said, "It woke me up and I couldn't get to sleep. God, I wonder if this is what Lori felt like."

Daryl was silent for a moment before he popped another handful of cereal into his mouth and chewed without abandon. She looked at him for a long moment, watching him eat, before sitting back and picking at her food.

"What, not hungry now?" He asked and reached forward, snagged her bowl, and brought it to him, promptly ignoring the box of cereal, which he set on the table. She let him do it, feeling slightly queasy, and as she resituated herself uncomfortably, she felt that odd little pinch in her lower stomach again.

"Dunno." She mused as she watched him wolf down the sugary pieces. When she smiled faintly, remembering more romantic times with him, he scowled at her. His hand flipped through the air, cutting it sharply.

"Ain't nothin' t' smile about. Y'need food." He said.

Rolling her eyes, Andrea answered, "Yes, mother."

She waved her hand at him and he sent the bowl skidding back across the table. She caught it with her hand and halfheartedly pushed a few pieces into her mouth. She could tell that he didn't believe her feigned happiness at eating. After pushing a few more pieces down, she slid the bowl back over. He glared at her before accepting the bowl again.

He was already dressed, probably hadn't even undressed for the night, and she felt horribly underdressed. She tugged her bathrobe closer around her body almost unconsciously and tried to hide the small bump of her stomach. She knew she was farther along than her body physically admitted but she didn't know how much farther. She felt almost awkward in front of the man she felt a serious attraction to. They'd never said they loved each other but that's what she felt. She didn't even want to ask to see if he felt the same way.

But the way he was looking at her now suggested that he might have some feelings for her, too. She smiled at him almost weakly and tugged on the sleeves of her robe and he leaned back, crossing his legs in that way he crossed his legs, and watched her. She felt his gaze hot on her skin and it sent tingles up her arms; the baby started kicking again.

Finally he said, "Should go get more sleep."

Andrea smiled a half-smile, "You know that's not how it works." She sighed and ignored the baby's kicks, ignored that weird pain sensation. "Once I'm up, I'm up. You're the one who should be asleep. What is it, four in the morning?"

Daryl raised an eyebrow and his lips puckered a bit like he didn't believe her at all. "No one's got the time anymore."

The small smile dropped, "Yeah, you're right. Not since Dale."

Daryl picked up another handful of cereal and stuffed it in his mouth before pushing off from his seat and crossing the kitchen. He stopped at the door to the living room and looked back at her. "I'm gonna take ya up on that. Sleepin' sounds good."

When he left, she waited a few seconds before leaning forward and grabbing the cereal box and looking at it. The games on the back of the box were easy, for little kids, but they were reminders of a time long past. After a while of staring at the games, she set the box down, stood from the chair, made her way through the house and past Daryl's Couch, opened the front door, and stepped outside. She hugged the robe closer to her body, thankful for the extra layer of clothing, and leaned on the column that separated the porch from the outside world.

The morning was chilly and a faint pinkness shone in the gray light. She could just make out the shapes of the houses, of a bird flitting through the air, its shadowed form dark in the sky. She watched its passing before noting another disturbance in this morning's birth. Squinting, she could barely make out its shape. It shuffled down the street, closer to her house than she liked, and she instinctively crouched, ignoring her body's protests.

Behind it came others, staggering, struggling, acting in a way she knew instinctively to be no longer human. She stifled a gasp, putting her hand quickly to her mouth, and pushed herself backward. Her other hand automatically felt for her gun but she knew it was nowhere on her body. Then she made herself move as quickly as she could and forced herself to sprint to where Daryl lay.

"Daryl!" She hissed and instantly he was sitting upright, his eyes trained on her.

"What now?" He growled, but she could hear that distinct undercurrent of fear and could see that his eyes were on her stomach. Nevertheless, he tried to cover it up with a quick: "Was tryin' to sleep."

"Daryl, there are walkers all over the street. You move quicker; I'll get Glenn and Maggie, you need to warn Rick and the others." Andrea said quickly and Daryl jumped up and ran to the window overlooking the street outside. What came out of his throat was not human; it was guttural, almost like the sounds the animals he hunted made.

Then he grabbed his crossbow and pushed the door open. "Get Glenn. I don't want you outside. Yer in no state to help."

Andrea scowled but understood and made her way over to the stairs even before he'd finished talking. She felt a weird tugging sensation in her heart and turned back to him, suddenly nervous to see him leave. She'd never felt that feeling quite as strong before. She saw him looking at her and she saw him actually gave her a gruff sort of smile as he hefted his crossbow up.

"Don't worry, Andrea. I'll come back." He said and left into the predawn morning, taking care to shut the door after him.

She looked at where he had stood before shaking herself and climbing the stairs. The walkers had finally breached the safe zone's defenses. No one was safe anymore.


	2. Just Because Everything's Changing

**Welcome to part two of three of 'I'll Come Back,' a fic of, you guessed it, Andrea and Daryl. As always, I hope you like this installment and check back for the final one soon!**

******- Lyrics from Regina Spektor**

_Just because every thing's changing  
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before  
All you can do is try to know  
Who your friends are as you head off to the war  
Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light  
You'll come back when it's over  
No need to say goodbye_

Andrea didn't have much time to think about her condition as she pushed her way up the stairs and thumped on Carol's door before moving quickly to the master bedroom. Glenn was already sitting sleepily in bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Maggie groaned and rolled over, clearly not wanting to get up.

"Wha—? Andrea? What's th'matter?" Glenn asked groggily, suppressing a yawn behind his hands.

"There're walkers in the street. One of the walls must have finally crumbled." Andrea couldn't believe she was so calm even though her body was shaking so hard. "If they're not already, they're going to be everywhere."

"Walkers?" Carol asked from her bedroom door; she'd thrown a shawl over her thin shoulders and her eyes shone fearfully in the dim light.

"A lot of them," Andrea nodded, leaning on the doorframe as the baby began another barrage of kicks to her lower abdomen.

"Shit!" Glenn cussed and threw the covers off, pulled on pants and a shirt, and then sat on the bed to pull on socks. Maggie hurriedly did the same, brushing her hair back with her hand while tugging on her pants.

Andrea turned to go to put on her own clothes but was met by Carol's steely gaze. "No, you're not going out there. Not in your condition."

If there was one thing she didn't like, it was taking orders from Carol, but she knew when her fights were lost causes. Instead of complaining, she looked at Carol strongly as if willing the woman to back off. Carol stood strong, to Andrea's surprise.

Trying another plan of action, she shrugged, "I still need to get dressed."

"Something comfortable." Carol nodded an agreement and let the blond pass.

Andrea hurried to her room and rummaged through her clothes, deciding against the jeans and billowy shirts she had taken to wearing to cover up what little of the baby bump she had. In the end, she pulled on a cottony dress and belted it loosely at the waist before pushing her trusty gun, Ladysmith, into the belt. She felt a whole lot better now that she had Lady at her beck and call.

Footsteps hurried past her room to the stairwell and she knew Glenn and Maggie were already racing to help. She felt sort of useless as she sat on the bed with a gentle sigh, holding her stomach as she reached down and pulled on her shoes. When she sat back up, she noticed Carol standing in the doorway.

"Doesn't get better, does it?" She mused, flipping her hand to accentuate the question. She had asked the question offhandedly, almost not expecting an answer. She had asked the question to relieve her own nerves; she could do nothing now, as she knew exactly how little use she was in her current condition. She had asked her question because it had taken her mind off of Daryl, which was weird because she knew the man could take care of himself. It didn't make her any less worried.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked as she moved forward and sat on Andrea's bed.

Andrea scowled, saying the first thing on her mind. "Having a kid in this apocalypse. I… I guess I should have gotten rid of it."

"The baby?" Carol asked, disbelief coloring her voice. Then her voice grew hard, "You're acting like Lori. I thought you were better, Andrea."

Andrea looked at her and Carol smiled. Shaking her head, Andrea mused, "You know… it's Daryl's."

"I'm glad it's Daryl's." Carol said back.

This was the first time Andrea had ever felt like talking to Carol about such things. She couldn't even stomach talking about Sophia or even Lori and Judith. But, somehow talking about Daryl actually calmed her nerves. Nevertheless, she was shocked at what Carol had said.

"You… you're okay with this?" She asked, unconsciously rubbing her stomach and wondering what Daryl might or might not be doing right now.

"He never loved me." Carol's voice was sad and Andrea actually felt sorry for the woman who had lost both husband and daughter to the rough times. But Carol was smiling—Andrea could see the glint of her teeth in the predawn light. "Everyone can see he cares for you."

Andrea blinked with surprise. Apparently everyone could see that but her. Now she knew, but did she really want to hear that from Carol, the woman she thought had been Daryl's true love? She furrowed her brows. Then she groaned and massaged her head with her hands, "I feel so useless here. I need to get out there and do something."

"What do you think Daryl would say?" Carol quipped back.

"He wouldn't _say_ anything. He's not like that and you know it. He'd probably glare at me, yell at me incomprehensibly. He'd probably be pissed."

Carol blinked, "He'd protect you, too. He'd abandon his own safety for you. Do you want that?"

Andrea sighed and didn't even have to think about it. To think about Daryl in that way hurt her. Just then, Glenn barged into the room, breathing heavily. "We need to get you two out of here. We're trying to hit them with noiseless weapons to draw less attention, but they're going to swarm this house and you two aren't safe."

Carol jumped up and Andrea pushed herself off of the bed with more difficulty than she should have had. Her stomach argued angrily, causing pain to course through her body momentarily, but she continued to ignore whatever the baby was doing as she followed the two other survivors out of her room. They raced down the stairs, Glenn jumping down the last three and turning to watch for Carol and Andrea. He followed them out of the house and ran ahead to bludgeon a walker over the head with the baseball bat he held. Andrea took her gun out from the belt and held it in her hand. She didn't fire it but just the weight of Lady in her hand made her feel as if she was a little safer.

They hurried across the road and down an alleyway. Andrea lagged behind, her stomach protesting against running. Finally, Andrea turned a corner and found herself alone. She cussed aloud and turned around to head back the other way but a searing pain caught her in her midsection. She leaned against a wall and waited for the pain to pass before realizing that she might actually be in labor.

"Shit." She cussed again, "Shit, not now. Oh, God. Dammit, why _now_. Carol? Glenn?"

Only a moan answered and she looked down the end of the alleyway to see a lone walker stumbling toward her determinedly. She raised her pistol but realized the sound would attract more of them and she certainly wasn't in the correct physical state to attack as many as she had in the woods that day.

Steeling herself and pushing her nerves as far underneath her skin as she could, she walked forward, picked up a stray piece of metal leaning against the house, and pushed Lady into her belt. She kept walking forward and when she was close enough she clubbed the walker's head in. It felt with a crunch to the ground and the pregnant woman was given a moment's respite. She kept the piece of metal, swung it around in her hand for a moment and tested its weight. It was heavier than Lady but it was more silent and had a longer reach than, say, a frying pan or something.

Andrea continued onward. It took her a moment to figure out where she was in the safe zone but when she figured it out, she realized she was close to the abandoned playground that just happened to have been caught in the safe zone's perimeter. Fortunately, safety was on the far side of the playground in the more heavily-fortified houses. Unfortunately, that meant crossing the open field. And walkers were already shambling across it in an attempt to get meat. This was bad: this meant there was more than one broken piece of wall.

She couldn't jog but she did try her best to reach high ground, which was the playground, and collapsed at the highest part, leaning her back on one of the plastic playground walls and heaving, gripping the metal piece in her hand tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped to high heaven that she would survive this morning.

All around her moans rose skyward as multiple undead eyes fixated on their prey.

* * *

"Where the _hell_ is Andrea?" Daryl growled out as he grabbed the front of Glenn's shirt and dragged him close, almost pulling the Korean off of his feat. Everyone could see that Daryl was pissed and he could hear a few people take involuntary steps backward.

"Daryl, put Glenn down." Rick's voice was grating in his head and he growled at the former Sheriff but didn't take his eyes off of Glenn.

"We lost her, Daryl!" Carol's voice was shrill and she was shaking. He looked at her and dropped Glenn, pushed him away violently. "When we turned around, she was gone. It's not Glenn's fault!"

"The hell you leave her behind? She's _pregnant_ goddammit! Should've stayed with her!" He bellowed. "You even tell her where you were goin'?"

Glenn hung his head and Carol shook hers. This angered Daryl more. "I'm goin' out there and _you_ ain't stoppin' me!"

This he roared to Rick, shoving a finger in the man's direction as he simultaneously hefted up his crossbow. Rick stepped back and lowered the pistol he'd raised. He nodded his head to the door, "I won't stop you. Not this time."

"Finally talkin' some sense, Sher'f." Daryl drawled out with too much anger, chest heaving after the unnecessary roughness. He pushed crudely past Glenn, not feeling any remorse in the least, and yanked the door open.

"You'll need someone to go with you," Glenn called, straightening out his shirt, and Daryl turned to glare at him. Despite this, Glenn stood strong: "You're right, it's my fault I lost her, let me go with you."

"No!" Maggie's voice was tough but she latched onto Glenn's arm like it was a lifeline. "I will not let you go back out there."

Daryl scoffed, "Y'all'll slow me down 'nyway."

Before he'd even taken two steps down the porch, he heard a clunking noise behind him and he turned to see Abraham walking toward him. "Glenn's right. I'll go. Don't worry, Rick, we'll come back safe."

Rick stood in the doorway with Carl at his side. "Alright. We'll head toward the general store. Meet us there."

"We took the back alleyways!" Carol added to Daryl's retreating form.

Daryl's scowl worsened and he shot a walker straight through the eye with a bolt from his crossbow. He stalked over to its now-prone form and yanked the bolt out. Taking the back alleyways was the worst route to take; there were too many twists and turns. It would take forever to find Andrea.

"We'll find her," Abraham grunted as he swung a heavy wooden bar laced with nails at another walker's head. "Your house isn't too far away. Besides, she can handle a couple walkers."

But Daryl wouldn't tell Abraham that he wasn't worried about Andrea taking care of herself. He was worried about the baby, _his_ baby, that Andrea held inside her. And Andrea herself. He wouldn't admit it to anyone that the reason why he was still here, with this group much less living at all, was because of that bitch of a woman. He wouldn't admit that he loved her.

* * *

Andrea stiffened slightly as pain pushed through her but forced herself to focus on the walker in front of her. It was hard to do. She had to simultaneously bite her lip, which was now raw, and fend off the walkers. They didn't feel pain, of course, and kept coming. She didn't need anyone to tell her that she was growing weaker with every swing of the metal bar but they grew stronger if only in numbers. They were also gaining on her little place of refuge. They couldn't climb well, which was a good thing, but those that did were no longer being dispatched as easily.

The pregnant woman didn't know what was taking so long for Daryl to find her. The sun, now visible over the rooftops, illuminated the field and told her that she was up against impossible odds. There was no way she could hold her current position against all of the walkers. At one time she might have been able to, but her pregnancy and labor allowed for a slim chance of survival. There was even less odds going for her when it came to her making it across the field to the houses on the far side. She was sure Daryl would be out looking for her right now and, being the excellent tracker he was, he should have picked up her 'breadcrumbs,' that is to say walker corpses, right away. So what was taking him so long?

She forced the metal pole to do her bidding, clutching it with both hands and swinging it sharply. It cracked against a walker's skull but it seemed like two more immediately stumbled into the re-dead walker's place. Andrea wiped sweat off her brow and willed her unborn child to stop kicking, willed her stomach to stop being so horrible. Willed herself not to be in labor.

She was answered by another sharp pain which once again sucked the breath out of her.

"Damn." She whimpered, crouching slightly to ease the pain and leaning against the frame of the playground equipment to steady herself. Below her, walker hands reached upward in attempt to grab her but she was too high for them to touch. In front of her, more walkers staggered up the playground stairs, intent on reaching their meal. Andrea wiped the tears out of her eyes, tears caused not by the walkers and her impending doom but by the fear she felt for her baby.

Hell with this; Andrea planned to live.

Abandoning the metal pipe, Andrea dug Lady out from her belt and aimed at the closest walker's head. She pulled the trigger.

* * *

Daryl heard the shot and his stomach fluttered in the weirdest way. He stopped dead in his tracks which allowed for Abraham to push past him and put a walker intent on his flesh out of its misery. He didn't care; Daryl was listening for another shot.

When he heard it, he nearly fainted. His legs felt like jelly; they'd never felt like jelly before, not even when he thought he was going to die way back at Hershel's farm when Nelly threw him, not even when Andrea nearly killed him with a headshot. He couldn't say anything but the beginnings of a smile crept onto his face with the third and fourth subsequent shots.

"She's alive, Daryl." Abraham sounded relieved. "Sounds like its coming from the playground."

Daryl closed his eyes for one second, just one, and when he opened them, his resolve strengthened. "Let's go."

"She's already alerted them. Most likely all of them." Abraham pointed out as Daryl pushed past him.

"She's still alive. Yer either with me or not. I ain't goin' back now." Daryl answered harshly, heart hammering in his chest. He would get Andrea to safety if it was the last thing he did.

He heard Abraham hesitate behind him but only for a moment. Then the man followed, bashing a walker's head in first for good measure.

* * *

"Andrea!"

When she first heard her name, she ignored it, thinking it only her mind playing tricks on her. It could have been the echoes of Lady's reports as they swam around the playground. It could have been a walker randomly forming sounds that might have matched her name. Whatever the reason, she ignored the first call as she slammed another clip into Lady's gaping hull.

The second call, the only nickname she allowed anyone to call her, made her look up sharply, stand up from her prone position, and look over the plastic walls of her refuge. Two figures were approaching that were much quicker and definitively more agile than walkers. She expelled the breath she'd been holding and sank back down. She wasn't sure she could yell, but she did kick a walker in the face and shoot it as it staggered backwards. She was racking up quite the pile of walker bodies but she was heaving with exhaustion.

Andrea was lucky, though; though she was in labor, her pains were minimal, almost like harsh cramps one would have during a period, and that allowed her to focus. What was bad, however, was that those pains were very close together as if the baby had opted out of 'waiting for hours' and instead declared it was time _now_ to come. Or perhaps Andrea had dozed through the 'waiting for hours' phase earlier that night.

She heard the whizz of a bolt before she saw it lodge into the closest walker's eye. Scrambling forward, she pried the bolt out of the walker's face and glanced through the bars to her saviors. Daryl was there, which was no surprise. Carol was right; he would protect her even if it meant putting himself in danger. But what did surprise her was who he was accompanied by. She blinked at Abraham as the man swung the wooden beam at a walker's head.

"You okay up there?" He asked, noticing her looking at him.

"Uh, define okay." Andrea panted, pulling herself into a standing position using the vertical bars and leaning heavily on the top bar. She looked down at the two and grimaced, "Get up here, hurry!"

Daryl slapped his hand across the face of one walker and it was only when he took it away when she noticed he held a knife in it. He and Abraham pushed quickly through the gathering horde but weren't quick enough to get to Andrea as another walker pushed past the growing pile of bodies. She swung around to face it and pushed Lady's trigger but the cartridge clicked dry. The walker pushed forward in a strong attempt to clear the bodies and landed heavily on her legs. Andrea buckled and a sharp pain erupted in her butt where she'd landed on the hard metal. She dropped the bolt and it fell through the holes on the bottom to the ground.

Andrea wasn't the screaming sort, but she did grunt with the pain, which was wholly different from the pain she felt deep in her stomach. The creature pulled hideously on her skirt and she grabbed futilely for her metal bar but it had dropped to the ground below shortly before she'd fallen. As soon as it lowered its head to take a bite, it was hefted up off of her and thrown haphazardly over the side of the playground equipment. In its place stood Abraham and Daryl pushed her savior away and knelt by her side.

"No bites?" He asked, his hand gentle as he touched her leg.

"No bites." Andrea huffed and sat up, holding onto her aching stomach as if the baby was going to fall out. "But I can't move."

Daryl looked quizzical but Abraham groaned. "Your kid chose a fine time to be born."

"I'll agree with you the—oh!" Andrea sucked in a breath as another contraction rippled through her but she wasn't cliché; she didn't reach for Daryl's hand. She did, however, grip Lady tighter. Then, in a moment, it was past, and she pushed herself back so her back was on the plastic playground wall again. "I don't suppose you could carry me?"

"No can do." Abraham answered, surveying the field. "They're closing in. Either it's us get eaten out there or us get eaten up here."

"I'd rather a third option," Andrea mused breathlessly. "Daryl?"

During this whole short conversation, Daryl had been looking at his crossbow. When he looked up, his eyes were soft, softer than she'd seen them in a long while, and he scooted closer and put a hand on her stomach. Andrea's skin tingled with the touch even though she couldn't really feel his hand. She took her free hand and grabbed Daryl's gently and they locked eyes.

Finally, he said, "Gotta get ya outta here. I'll draw 'em away."

"Daryl!" Andrea cried, sitting forward quickly and receiving physical pain as punishment for the quick movement. At the same time Abraham jerked around and grunted. "Daryl, please, no. I need you."

"Abraham'll take ya. He's stronger." Daryl pointed out.

"No." Abraham said with so much force that both man and pregnant woman looked at him. He looked determined and he lifted up his shirt to show them a gaping wound in the shape of a human mouth. It was oozing blood and looked fresh.

Andrea sucked in a breath; "What…? When?"

"Just now. Didn't mean to. The walker just… tell Rosita I still love her." Abraham said. They didn't know what to say. Daryl remained steely. After a moment's pause in which another walker stumbled up the first stair of the equipment, Abraham mused, "I guess there's a time in life for everything. Now's the time you've gotta be with your family, Daryl. And Andrea? I wish you luck."

Andrea pushed herself into a semi-squatting position, selfishly using Daryl's strong body to hold herself up. But he didn't seem to mind; both were fixated on the gentle giant that was Abraham as he hoisted himself over the edge of the equipment and fired his machine gun into the air.

"Come get me, fuckers!" He called loudly and instantly all attention was on him.

Quicker than she knew he could ever move, Daryl stood and picked up Andrea in his arms. He swept quickly off of the equipment, favoring the stairs instead of just dropping down, and then he was off, jogging out of the sand that marked the playground and into the grass that marked the field. Though she could tell that he was trying for a smooth ride, Andrea could feel every bump and jostle. And then she had to contend with the contraction, which felt one hundred times worse when she was moving not of her own accord.

"Hang in there!" Daryl murmured to her, his voice thick with his accent. The accent she loved.

She buried her head into his flannel shirt and moaned out the pain, grabbed strongly onto his shirt with one hand and onto Lady with the other. The contraction passed and left her panting, but they were at the house and he was pushing through the door. It was empty, as everyone had left when the alarm went up. He shut the door behind him and raced up the stairs. He was very gentle when putting her on the bed and his eyes were full of concern as he looked her over.

"You okay?" He asked, voice bursting with anxiety.

"Not yet." Andrea murmured as she pushed herself into a position she liked better. "But there's nothing you can do about it."

Daryl bit his lip and then stood and paced. She watched him do so for a bit before waving her hand to get his attention. He looked at her and stopped pacing. She offered a smile, one that wasn't reciprocated.

"Look, Abraham did that for—" Andrea started but another wave of pain rolled through her and she clenched up.

Daryl was by her side in and instant and his hands linked with hers. Determined not to show weakness, she only clenched his hand half as hard as she would have liked. When she released it, he began to pace again. "Ain't nothin' t' do about Abr'ham."

"He saved us. But you were going to risk your life!" Andrea cried, feeling full of energy and angry about Daryl's almost self-sacrifice.

"For you!" He rounded on her, yelling, hands balled into fists. Then he retreated even though she hadn't acted fearfully. He sighed and visibly took control of his emotions. "Y'don't get it. If ya ain't alive…"

"Daryl. I'll be fine… I will be fine _now_. Because you're here." She puffed out and he stepped forward and wiped a sweat-ridden strand of hair out of her face before kissing her harshly on the lips. She needed that, and she grabbed at his hair and eagerly kissed back. She could barely breathe but she didn't care. All of a sudden everything was right.

And then… more complications. Below, the walkers reached the house and the two startled apart when they heard the crash of windows. "Shit!" He growled and stalked over to where he'd set the crossbow.

"Daryl?" Andrea asked fearfully, pushing herself as far into a sitting position as she dared. "Please…."

Daryl looked back at her with that soft face he wore. "Don't go nowhere, Blondie. I'll come back."

And for the second time today, Daryl was gone.


End file.
